Author: Agnes Scott
Source: ezinearticles.com

What do you think – is there any relation between your diet and acne? Do you believe that eating lots of greasy food, chocolate and sugar will cause acne? Dermatologists certainly believe otherwise, and have gone on public record with their opinion. If you visit the websites run by dermatological associations, they firmly say that there is no link between diet and acne. Their opinion is mainly based on studies published in the 1980s and 1990s. In general, modern dermatologists (unlike some of the older generation of family GPs) are 100% behind acne care treatment using medication like Accutane and antibiotics.

However, in recent years, newer research has thrown doubts on those old experiments. In 2004, a group of doctors (Parker Magina, Dimity Ponda, Wayne Smithb and Alan Watson) published a study in Oxford Journal on the link between acne and diet. They re-examined the old experiments, and discovered serious flaws. Some experiments used too few patients (only 20 or 30 patients) or were ended too quickly (the experiments ended after 2 weeks when most modern treatments last at least 2 months). Other experiments did not have a proper control group, or used flawed placebos.

Modern studies (by Dr Adebamowo and Dr Spiegelman done in 2004, 2005, 2006) have found a correlation between milk consumption and acne in teenagers. In laymen’s terms, this means that teenagers who drank more milk also had more acne, although they do not really know why.

So what should you do if you have very bad acne? Well, you could listen to your dermatologist and continue to eat lots of greasy food at MacDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken, or you could test it out for yourself. Try eating a plain, healthy diet for 2 months:

Only drink plain water or fresh fruit juice. Do not add sugar to your fruit juice. Don’t laugh – this should be common sense, but there are people who still do this.
Avoid chocolate.
Avoid dairy products. If you need extra calcium, try a supplement.
Avoid fried foods. This includes both french fries and potato chips.
Avoid fatty/greasy foods. This includes coleslaw and salads with oily dressings. Salads with light olive oil dressings are fine.
Avoid spicy foods. In other words, your favorite Indian curry, spicy Thai takeout and Mexican Enchilada are out.
Eat more fruits and vegetables. No, coleslaw doesn’t count. Neither do rice, wheat, corn, maize or potatoes even though they come from plants.

Unless their doctor recommends a particular diet, eating meals following the good old food pyramid will benefit most people. Many of you will find that your skin condition improves and you won’t need more intense acne care treatment.

Does acne affect your life very badly? Stop suffering in silence. Click here to learn step-by-step, permanent acne care treatment.

Author: James Parker
Source: ezinearticles.com

A natural acne remedy is often a good alternative to other treatments when nothing seems to be working for your problem. There are a number of advantages in using this type of treatment.

One of the most important is the fact that natural ingredients will rarely give you side effects, whereas the chemical treatments can bring you up in blotches and blemishes which are worse than the original problem.

Secondly many of these natural acne remedies can be made at home, which costs less than conventional medications. An example of this is a mixture of turmeric and coriander juice. This can easily be made at home and applied daily.

One of the best natural acne remedies is made up of grated cucumbers, oatmeal and creamed carrots. This is very soothing and also gives vitamins and minerals to the skin. Vitamin C and D are very important for the good health of your skin. Vitamin E is also important as it is an antioxidant and will neutralize free radicals. This helps your skin rejuvenate and recover from acne.

Because of the importance of vitamins and minerals for your skin, a natural acne remedy will often include supplements of these vitamins. It may also include calcium supplements as this is also good for your skin.

Diet is an important natural acne remedy. A healthy diet is essential for your skin’s health. You should try to cut out junk food, especially refined sugar and sodas. These foods can be very bad for your complexion and aggravate your acne. Plus you should drink more water. Doing this will help your body filter out toxins in your body and help to keep your skin clear and decrease your acne. Water will also keep your skin hydrated and less likely to break out in blemishes and acne.

Stress plays a large role in aggravating acne. Another natural acne remedy is managing your stress. You can do this in several ways. Stress management classes are available which will help to relieve your stress. You can also take up Yoga which is very relaxing and will help to improve your health and your skin. Relieving your tension and stress will do wonders for your skin.

There are many more natural acne remedies that you can try for your acne. They may take a little longer to take effect but will often be very effective in the long run to help you in your fight against acne.

There are many natural acne remedy, but which one is for you? Perhaps, you can visit us at: home remedies for pimples for more information and help.

Author: Lynn McArthur
Source: ezinearticles.com

Exercise is a must if you are serious about healing acne. By exercising on a regular basis, you can also help prevent acne.

While you are exercising, you are increasing the blood flow to your skin, which provides more oxygen to your skin cells. Your skin needs oxygen to stay healthy – oxygen assists in the production of collagen, elastin and other components necessary for a healthy skin condition.

You should exercise at an intensity that will promote sweating. Sweating helps clean your skin pores by expelling toxins from your body, which is important in healing acne. I never feel better than after a good workout where I have sweat out all the ‘bad stuff’! It goes without saying that showering after you have been sweating is important.

Exercise also helps regulate over-active hormones, which is a root cause of acne. Aerobic exercise in particular is good at calming down excess hormone production. Aerobic exercise is defined as “any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously, and is rhythmic in nature.”(Definition by The American College of Sports Medicine). Aerobic exercise is the type of exercise that overloads the heart and lungs and causes them to work harder than at rest.

To improve your chances of healing acne, you should set a goal of at least 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week.

So, what kind of exercise should you do? Of course, it should be something you enjoy (at least a little!), or you won’t do it! Even if you don’t like it much at first, you will look forward to it when you see and feel the results of your efforts.

Some examples of aerobic exercise are:

Aerobic Dance
Bicycling
Cross Country Skiing
In-line Skating
Fitness Walking
Jumping Rope
Running
Stair Climbing
Swimming

One word of caution about swimming…if you swim in a public pool, it will usually have a high concentration of chlorine. This will really dry your skin out! It’s important that you shower immediately after swimming in a chlorinated pool, and make sure you use a good moisturizer afterwards! Swimming is great exercise, but if you can find a pool that uses saline instead of chlorine, that would be better for your skin. If you’re in the right climate, maybe there is a nearby lake you can swim in!

The bottom line is you need to get up and get moving if you are going to start healing acne! Your skin and your entire body will be better for it!

To Your Clear Skin,

Lynn

Lynn McArthur is a ‘recovered’ acne sufferer. Having lived with pimples and acne from an early age well into her adulthood, she understands EXACTLY what you are going through in your battle to have clear skin. She understands your daily challenges, and has sound advice. Visit Lynn at Healing Acne For Good.